1 Project overview

1.1 Introduction

This book documents an inventory of environmental and biological data in the Gulf of Maine, including sources and availability. The inventory includes information about the projects, such as the lead entity, partner entities, project description, data start and end dates, project website, data links, metadata links, principal investigator (PI) name and contact information, spatial scale, data categories, data availability, data type, and notes. Data can be viewed in table form in the following section, and data are also organized by topical category and displayed in a written text format in the chapters linked in the navigation bar to the left. Please note that a single dataset or project may be indexed (e.g., repeated) under multiple topics, if pertinent. The data are intended to be used by researchers, managers, and other stakeholders interested in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.

The data are also stored in a data frame called gom_data, which is available in this R package, and are also available for download in csv format at data-raw/gom_data_inventory.csv. The data frame contains 236 rows and 17 variables. Each row represents a project, and the variables provide information about the project and its associated data.

A full written report summarizing this data, as well as data gaps, will be available with the BOEM Environmental Study series on the GovInfo website.

1.2 Data

1.2.1 Data documentation

Title: Gulf of Maine Data Inventory

Description: An inventory of environmental and biological data in the Gulf of Maine, including sources and availability.

Format: A data frame with 263 rows and 17 variables:

  • project_name: character; Name of the project
  • lead_entity: character; The institution or organization leading the project
  • partner_entities: character; Partner entities involved in the project (optional)
  • project_description: character; Description of the project; usually taken from linked webpage or other source
  • data_start_date: character; The year of the earliest data collection recorded in the project; note that some projects may include legacy data collected before the official project start date
  • data_end_date: character; The year of the most recent data collection recorded in the project; “Present” indicates that the project is ongoing
  • project_website: character; Link to the project website or associated report or other documentation of the project’s existence
  • link_to_data_if_different: character; Link to webpage where data can be accessed; only included if the data are available through a website other than the project website (optional)
  • link_to_metadata_if_different: character; Link to webpage or other source containing metadata for the project; only included if the metadata are available through a website other than the project website or the data website (optional)
  • pi_name: character; The name of the Principal Investigator (PI) for the project. “Unknown” indicates that the PI could not be identified.
  • pi_contact_info: character; The email address or website link to contact the PI. “Unknown” indicates that contact information could not be found.
  • sourced_from: character; Two project databases were reviewed. “FishForwrd_2025-04-25” indicates that the project was identified in the FishForwrd database on April 25, 2025. “FishForwrd_early-2025” indicates that the project was identified in the FishForwrd database in early 2025, but not in the April data pull. “RWSC_2025-04-25” indicates that the project was identified in the RWSC database on April 25, 2025. “RWSC_early-2025” indicates that the project was identified in the RWSC database in early 2025, but not in the April data pull.”this project” indicates that the project was identified as part of the research conducted for this project.
  • spatial_scale: character; The spatial scale of the project. Options are “Global”, “USA”, Northwest Atlantic”, “Gulf of Maine”, “State”, and “Project”.
  • data_categories: character; The categories of data collected in the project. Options are “Acoustic”, “Anadramous/Catadromous Fishes”, “Bathymetry”, “Chemical oceanography”, “Coastal fish”, “Elasmobranchs”, “Groundfish”, “Habitat”, “Marine mammals”, “Molluscs”, “Pelagic fish”, “Physical oceanography”, “Plankton”, “Sea turtles”, “Seabirds”.
  • data_availability: character; Whether the data is publicly available. “Yes” indicates that the data is available for download or access through a website. “No” indicates that the data is not publicly available. “Yes, by request” indicates that the data is not publicly available for download, but the project webpage states that it is available on a case-by-case basis.
  • data_type: character; There are two data categories. “Spatial”s data that includes spatial information, such as coordinates. “Research project, synthesis, or technology development” describes data that does not include spatial information, but is relevant to the collection and interpretation of environmental and biological data in the Gulf of Maine.
  • notes: character; Any notes about the project or associated data (optional)

1.3 Disclaimers

1.3.1 License

Software code created by U.S. Government employees is not subject to copyright in the United States (17 U.S.C. §105). The United States/Department of Commerce reserve all rights to seek and obtain copyright protection in countries other than the United States for Software authored in its entirety by the Department of Commerce. To this end, the Department of Commerce hereby grants to Recipient a royalty-free, nonexclusive license to use, copy, and create derivative works of the Software outside of the United States.